A survey of more than 2000 people has found that routine upgrades have made 5G part of the furniture of mobile phones rather than an active must-have phone accessory,
Lead author Associate Professor James Meese from RMIT said it was a "quiet revolution" rather than big shift in consumer behaviour.
"What we're seeing is 5G by default, not 5G by demand," he said.
"It was sold as a tech revolution, but most people are not rushing to upgrade."
Social media dominated how users were interacting with the technology with 57 per cent logging onto various platforms to engage, followed by 53 per cent using it for voice phone calls, 39 per cent streaming video and 34 per cent making video calls.
Those upgrading for faster speeds had a mean age of 43, were more likely to be a male and based in a metro area.
Those who just waited for the upgrade, skewed older with a mean age of 52 and were more likely to be female.
Dr Meese said although some customers were substituting 5G home internet for the NBN, the overall shift was modest rather than widespread.
"Even with 5G home internet on the rise, our data suggests the NBN will remain the backbone of Australia's fixed broadband for some time yet," he said.
"For most households, 5G home internet is something they may consider in future rather than a trigger to abandon their existing fixed-line connection today."
Australians with higher incomes or postgraduate qualifications were also more likely to use 5G, the survey found.
About half of the people who had upgraded said their costs were similar to before, while one in four reported higher bills.
The study also looked at whether people were using 5G mobiles to replace home broadband via hotspotting.
Only six per cent of respondents used their mobile hotspot regularly amid an abundance of wi-fi options in public and private spaces.
Occasional hotspotting was mostly used as a backup when fixed‑line internet failed or was too slow, rather than as a full substitute for home broadband.
